


Are fanwork creators more queer than other AO3 users?

by centreoftheselights



Series: AO3 Census 2013 [17]
Category: No Fandom
Genre: AO3 Statistics, Archived From Tumblr, Archived From centrumlumina Tumblr, Fandom Statistics, LGBTQ in Fandom, Nonfiction, Sexuality in Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2019-09-20 08:10:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17018964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/centreoftheselights/pseuds/centreoftheselights
Summary: Attempting to answer the question "Are fanwork creators more queer than other AO3 users?" based on the AO3 Census.





	Are fanwork creators more queer than other AO3 users?

**Tumblr ask sent to[destinationtoast](http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com) by [anarfea](http://anarfea.tumblr.com/):**

Hi Toasty, I don't know if you've had this question before, but I was wondering about the percentage of A03 users who identify as queer vs. straight, and I was wondering if creators are more or less queer than users who don't have works published on their A03 profiles? Do you have any data on that? Thanks!

**Response from[destinationtoast](http://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/post/117583574089/hi-toasty-i-dont-know-if-youve-had-this):**

Hi!  [centrumlumina](http://tmblr.co/mRhAyj8oMsimrvSMX44skHQ) did a fantastic **[demographics survey of AO3 users](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1215111)**.  She looked at [**what proportion of each sexuality reads and writes fic**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17004420/chapters/39975927)of each categor.  This doesn’t directly address your question, though… you want to know whether AO3 writers are more likely to be queer than AO3 readers. Lumina, have you done that breakdown?

 **My response** :

I hadn’t done it before, but here’s a quick analysis using the “What activities do you use AO3 for?” question and the sexuality categories I discussed [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17004039/chapters/39975324).

There are 3814 people who answered that they used AO3 to archive fics - about 38% of respondents. (This number varies between the questions relating to fic writing, but that may include people who post on other websites.) Since 99% put that they read fics on AO3, I’m going to approximate the non-creators as “everyone else,” although some of that everyone else might not have registered accounts.

The sexuality categories for fic writers are: 30.0% het, 38.6% bi/pan, 5.5% gay, 8.5% ace, 16.8% other, and 0.6% non-respondents.

The sexuality categories for everyone else are: 34.9% het, 34.4% bi/pan, 5.4% gay, 8.1% ace, 16.3% other and 0.8% non-respondents.

So in summary: AO3 writers are typically less likely to be heterosexual than people who read AO3 but don’t write for it, with most of the difference being made up by bi/pan people.


End file.
